Taiwan President’s Popularity Plummets Amid Political Storm

Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou’s attempt to oust a well-liked legislative speaker has dragged his approval ratings down into the single digits, sparking the question why a seasoned politician like Mr. Ma is willing to risk his political capital just to sack one person.

European Pressphoto Agency

President Ma Ying-jeou, shown here greeting veterans at a ceremony, has seen his approval ratings fall.

For almost two weeks, Taiwan’s fractious political establishment has debated why the ruling party Kuomintang, or Chinese Nationalist Party, chose this time to blackball its longstanding heavyweight and legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng.

The fracas started on Sept. 6 when the Supreme Prosecutors Office unexpectedly held a news conference accusing speaker Wang, Justice Minister Tseng Yung-fu, and a chief prosecutor of using their influence to block prosecutors from filing an appeal after an opposition party member was found not guilty on embezzlement charges.

All three insist allegations that they meddled in the case were unfounded and said the prosecutors obtained their evidence through illegal wiretapping, a behavior Mr. Ma has sworn to abolish. Minister Tseng later agreed to step down at the urging of the premier. He maintains his claim of innocence.

The speaker wasn’t immediately available for comments on the day the allegations were made because he was in Malaysia attending his daughter’s wedding banquet. To add to the drama, during his absence, President Ma said the speaker’s alleged misconduct had stained the island’s judiciary and legal system, calling it “the darkest day in Taiwan’s democratic history.

Under the banner of party unity and preservation of Taiwan’s legal system, Mr. Ma, who is also the KMT chairman, urged the party disciplinary committee to penalize Mr. Wang whose membership was subsequently revoked by the committee. Mr. Wang’s status as a legislator-at-large and speaker remains in limbo amid the appeals process.

So why the heavy-handed treatment of Mr. Wang?

Since Mr. Ma began his presidency in 2008, several officials have been indicted on various charges. Just last month, a KMT Taipei city councilor, Lai Su-Ru, who also served as the president’s legal advisor, was indicted for taking bribes. Ms. Lai, now released on bail, was suspended by the party but her membership stays intact.

In June, the government ombudsman agreed to impeach Mr. Ma’s former top aide Lin Yi-shih after he was indicted on bribery charges. Mr. Lin remains a KMT party member.

Political pundits from both ends of the spectrum agree there has been bad blood between Messrs. Ma and Wang since 2005 when both ran for the KMT chairmanship. Others say the China-friendly President Ma is eager to dump the 12-term speaker because he was seen as giving in too much to the opposition over a controversial service-trade pact with China which naysayers claim would jeopardize Taiwan’s service industry and small- and medium-size businesses.

Hsu Chung-hsin, a lawmaker from the pro-independence Taiwan Solidarity Party, says President Ma is seeking to get rid of Mr. Wang because he agreed to the opposition Democratic Progressive Party’s demand to review the agreement article by article, which increases the chance for defeat of the pact, in part or in its entirety.

In an interview with CtiTV Wednesday, President Ma strongly refuted that his action was aimed at Mr. Wang, saying his motive is to safeguard the justice system.

“There was never a plan to annihilate Mr. Wang. That is a ridiculous and completely untrue claim,” said the president. He called the matter “not a political war, or a bill. This is a scandal.”

President Ma’s supporters also insist that their commander-in-chief is upholding Taiwan judiciary system without discrimination.

Foreign investors seem to be unfazed by the political spat. Stock analysts said foreign inflow picked up during the first few days after the scandal broke out and the selling pressure mainly came from local players.

“Local investors are very sensitive to the twists and turns of Taiwan’s politics but foreign investors actually see it as an opportunity to pass the long-awaited service pact with China,” said Benson Huang, an analyst at Horizon Securities.

Apart from the Taiwan-Chinese service pact, the legislature is scheduled to review several important bills by the end of the year, including the government’s annual budget, a referendum on Taiwan’s fourth nuclear power plant, and a trade agreement with New Zealand.

“Without Mr. Wang as the go-between for the ruling and the opposition parties, the legislature will fall into a state of chaos for a little while but after the temporary turmoil subsides, things will soon pick up,” said Mr. Huang.

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.